Derbyshire health boss defends mass testing after safety questioned by Sheffield Council

Mass testing using the lateral flow test is being rolled out across the county from 21 December to try and reduce the number of people without symptoms who could be spreading the disease to more vulnerable groups without knowing it.

Roughly one in three people who catch coronavirus are asymptomatic.

However, while 67 local authority areas in England will begin using the lateral flow test, health leaders in nearby Sheffield have held back over fears it is not accurate enough.

Research released by The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) last week found the lateral flow test picked up just 48.89 per cent of active infections.

The study involved 3,199 patients.

Dean Wallace, director of public health for Derbyshire, said: “There are limitations with lateral flow tests but they do give us the opportunity to identify asymptomatic people who would otherwise have been missed.

"This means we can break the chain of transmission in literally hundreds of cases, which could result in thousands fewer people being infected.”

Anyone in Derbyshire who tests positive on the lateral flow test will be given another test which is currently in use at test centres for people with symptoms to confirm they are infected.

Mr Wallace added: “It is also really important that people who have symptoms continue to get tested in the normal way. No single measure on its own is enough to beat Covid. We need to use the whole toolbox we have available to bring down infection rates."

The Government has insisted the lateral flow test is safe when used alongside other safety measures, such as PPE and social distancing.

The test, which can provide results in about 15 minutes, is expected to be available in Chesterfield in ‘mid to late January and February’, Derbyshire Council said.

When asked why it will not be available sooner, Mr Wallace said areas have been prioritised ‘based on the severity of infection’.

Rates are currently highest in South Derbyshire and Bolsover, where mass testing will be available first.

There were 134 cases per 100,000 people in Chesterfield in the seven days to 11 December, the latest available data show. The average area in England had 159.